LOCALadk Magazine

Fatigued but energized. Dirty but healthy. Living simply but feeling fulfilled. Far from home but utterly content. Immersing yourself in the wilderness is an emotional ex- perience — often surprising and always profound. To me, this is most evident when I watch teenage students return to the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Northeast cam- pus in Gabriels, New York, after three weeks of backpacking and canoeing deep in the Adirondack wilderness. The return to civilization is an abrupt transition. As stu- dents scrub their gear and dr y out their tents, they are eager for that first blissful shower and to turn their cell phones on for the first time in almost a month. After ever ything—and ever ybody—is clean, we circle up for a final debrief. I look around at these faces and can see their new confi- dence. These students look different to me than when they left three weeks ago. As NOLS Northeast's Program Director I know the stories, the learnings, the revelations that they share are unique, but they mirror the multitudes of debriefs that I have heard throughout my NOLS career. They echo sen- timents from NOLS students in India, Alaska, Wyoming, and beyond. "I achieved new heights I didn't know I was capable of…" "I formed strong bonds with new people…" I appreciat- ed the beauty and serenity of the wilderness…" "It was life changing…" Today, I decide to ask a simple yet favorite question to end the debrief: " What learnings are you going to take away from this experience? " From across the circle, a 15-year-old from New York City says to me, "I'm gonna think about this place when I can vote." This assertive and adamant statement brings nods from his peers. Three weeks prior, at the begin- ning of the expedition, this young man had wanted nothing to do with this place. Now, it is a landscape, a wilderness, a sentimental place, that he wants to help protect. The Adiron- dacks, home to NOLS Northeast, is a place that's changing lives for the next generation. NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school, committed to teaching leadership through real-world experience. Since 1965, NOLS has been helping people find their grit and de- velop their full potential. NOLS has diversified and grown over the years to include NOLS Wilderness Medicine, Risk Management Ser vices, and Custom Education. The NOLS mission is to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness and leadership skills, ser ving people and the environment. Through multi-week expeditions, students of all ages learn an array of leadership skills such as communication, tol- erance for adversity and uncertainty, judgment and decision making, and self-awareness. They develop an appreciation for simplicity and self-reliance, while becoming increasingly resilient and independent. While the tangible accomplish- ments include baking gourmet pizzas from scratch over a small camp stove or hiking up Dix Mountain with full 40 -pound backpacks, the greatest change is in confidence, self-discover y, and feelings of accomplishment: "NOLS and my instructors created a safe and healthy space where I was able to take risks and grow as an individual," one student wrote. A NOLS course not only provides leadership training but also immersion in wilderness, where students develop a sense of place, a wilderness ethic, and a responsibility for stewardship. On their courses, NOLS Northeast students are cleaning up lean-tos and campsites, packing out trash, and leaving areas better than they found them. "After a day of trail work with the Department of Environmental Conser va- tion (DEC), I was so appreciative of ever y bridge, ever y lad- der," one student told me. "For the next few weeks, I noticed all the details of trail work on our route and had a better un- derstanding of how hard and important that work is." Students return home feeling the peace and serenity they gained from time alone in the woods. Mountain summits, evenings in the forest, and morning mist on cold ponds be- come part of a student's identity, sparking their interest in protecting the environment and defending the ecosystem to which they now belong. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds and locations: Westchester to the Bronx, Holland to Hong Kong. Some have never slept in a tent before, and many have nev- er been to the Adirondacks. NOLS partners with organiza- tions across the countr y to award full-tuition scholarships to exceptional youth who would other wise not have access to NOLS Expeditions. For the past two years, over 40 percent of our NOLS Northeast summer students are from low-income households. Partnerships with programs like Summer Search, C5 Association, and KIPP reduces financial barriers and cre- ates a gateway for more young people to have a life-chang- ing NOLS experience. Diverse populations of urban youth are gaining access to the wilderness by way of NOLS courses. NOLS instructors, some of whom hail from Brazil, Kenya, and Chile, also bring diversity to the Adirondack Park. Many peoples' first exposure to wilderness is in the Ad- irondacks. There is a deep nostalgia associated with these experiences—a winter camping trip in college, a first ice climb, an unexpected overnight, the view from the summit of Mount Marcy. We all have our first memor y of falling in love with this wild place. It is even more empowering to learn that this wilderness exists within the state where you live. For our many students coming from the five boroughs or upstate, it is a place they now know how to return to. It becomes a place they will think of when they can vote. The NOLS experience in the Adirondacks is not just for teenagers. Our course offerings expand into the fall season with shorter courses for adults, including canoeing or back- packing expeditions, ser vice trips, and a Leave No Trace Mas- ter Educator course. By Lindsay Yost Photos by Kirk Rasmussen

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